Nov 1, 2011

#BDS Success: #Yardbirds cancel concert in #Israel

"Many Yardbird fans are thrilled to hear that these British legends, famous for the unmatched single “For Your Love,” will not play in apartheid Israel. Professor Haim Bresheeth, Mike Cushman, Professor Adah Kay, and Professor Jonathan Rosenhead, calling themselves “ancient geezers,” wrote an OPEN LETTER to the Yardbirds on August 30. They stated:

“…The world famous Yardbirds appear to have respected the South African liberation movement’s call for artists and musicians to assist them by denying legitimacy to the racist state. Have you thought through the implications of your appearance at the Barby Club in Tel Aviv on October 29? You’re telling Palestinian civil society organisations that are similarly calling for a cultural boycott of Israel that their dispossession and their oppression don’t matter. The Palestinian Teachers’ Federation; the Writers’ Federation; the League of Palestinian Artists; the General Union of Palestinian Women; and many others – your performance at the Barby will in effect tell all of these people that you side with the Israeli military occupation, that you don’t mind helping to airbrush the cruelties of racism and ethnic cleansing, and that you’re happy to behave as if there isn’t a Palestinian struggle for liberation and justice."